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Yes, I know it is relatively flat and expensive, but is currently the only place in Scandinavia connected to the UK by ferry. Travelling with with wife, 2 kids, 4 bikes, toys and camping gear for a few weeks so want to take the van rather than fly.
Silkeborg area looks to be current favourite but am open to any other suggestions or local info. Will we be able to find enough XC riding to keep amused? I've tried the local (Silkeborg) MTB club but the website isn't working.
Kids are also keen for a mini-adventure (6 and 8 yrs old so nothing epic). Basically want to do a few days away from roads going campsite to campsite (staying in huts). Any ideas of an area for this would be good (I'm thinking of somewhere up north - Bornholm would be my first choice but a hassle to get there and probably very busy in August).
And finally - as somebody who likes hills and mountains, will I wish we had driven to Switzerland (which we have done for the last 2 years)?....
Thanks.
the ferry across to kristiansand from Skagen is simple enough (there's an overnighter) and Skagen is a nice place for a stopover on the way.
Mick,
I think there's no comparison with somewhere like Switzerland - Denmark is very flat, although not featureless. You'll be hard pressed to find proper hills (I seem to have the height '200m' etched in my brain as the highest point in Denmark).
What you will find is something with it's own pleasures though. Lots of farms, excellent cycling facilities, low crime rates, the best bakeries, and friendly people who mostly speak good English. It's not as expensive as it's Scandinavian cousins, although with the current exchange rate I wouldn't call it cheap (in the same sense that France isn't cheap with the Euro rates).
Finding XC riding will be difficult. As in this country, local bike shops are the best places to get info. Tourist offices will help, but mostly with tarmac scenic routes.
If I was you, I'd avoid the central part of Jutland. Other than along the coast, there are really no hills. You could probably make a decent route by following the coastal path - I've ridden one called the 'Gendarmstien', which is an historic patrol route along the German border. http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/1740683/
Otherwise, XC riding will be limited to finding some nice big forests, which I tend to associate with the island of Fyn. http://www.visitfyn.com/cycling_holidays
If you were to base yourself in or near Odense, then you could easily fit in a day-trip to Copenhagen.
Thanks - I'll have a look at Fyn.
We went to Sweden for SSWC a few years back so I'm expecting the more interesting bits of Denmark to be like the flatter parts of its neighbour (i.e. like a clean, quiet, uncrowded version of the UK). I'm under no illusion that it will be like the alps, just want to make sure I don't go nuts if stuck there for 2 weeks (I've driven throught Holland a few times and really couldn't live with the expansive flatness).
We went to Kristiansand for a World Cup race back in 1996 (sailing to Stavanger). 3 days Denmark-1week Norway-3 days Denmark is the fallback option if we NEED mountains. Unfortunately it would be revisiting the one bit of Norway we have already been to (so much more to see). And total ferry costs would be well over £1000...... Its a real pain that "uneconomic" ferry from Newcastle to Norway / Sweden has been shut down by pesky DFDS (Harwich is a miserable extra bit of driving).
Keep the ideas coming!
Mick
next time we go that way we'll go to sweden via Ejsberg and the bridge in the camper van.
The bergen to newcastle route was a loooonnngg way with an even more tedious drive back to civilization from geordieland 🙂
Newcastle - Kristiansand was OK. However Newcastle - Gothenburg was rather tedious.....
I guess we all have our views on the most suitable ferry routes. However I don't think the current situation is very healthy - outright monopoly where DFDS runs 1 ship 3 times a week as the only link UK to Scandinavia 🙁
Hence the ballsqueeze pricing.....
My parents drive over fairly regularly (once or twice a year), and being very frugal people (I'm trying to avoid calling them cheapskates) they don't often go the DFDS Esbjerg route. Instead they prefer Stena/Norfolk Line routes or the Chunnel, and then stay in a cheap F1 or similar bargain hotel if they want to sleep for the night.